The world’s most popular fictional band, Dethklok, have returned once again to make everything metal with their latest release, The Dethalbum III. Brendan Small’s metal/comedy hybrid television show has been running for four seasons, now, and the latest musical offering takes songs featured in the second, third and fourth seasons of the show (the songs in the second season of the show that weren’t on the previously released The Deathalbum II, at least), fleshed out into pure metal glory.

Brendan Small (lead vocals, guitar, show creator/voice actor) takes center stage once again, playing the intensely heavy and intricate melodies played normally by the two fastest guitar players in the world, Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth, as well as the growling vocals of Nathan Explosion. Small takes on the brunt of all work concerning Dethklok, with live bassist Bryan Beller doing his best William Murderface impression, as well as metal legend Gene Hoglan reprising his role on drums, in place of Dethklok’s virtual drummer, Pickles.

The album serves its purpose well, making fully fleshed versions of the songs fans have come to know and love in fragments from the show, with each song on the album featured on the show at one point or another. Small has diverged from the standard death metal tonality from the original Dethalbum in this and the previous album, to mixed results. The occasional meld or shift in genres doesn’t always work, with blues and black metal inspirations not always fitting the expected tone of Dethklok, but mostly, this is pulled off very well, especially within the context of the show.

While this is a pretty standard Dethklok offering, which means it’s awesome, not everything is perfect in Mordhaus. A lot of the riffs are similar, if not the same, as other songs from the band, which is both a quick shot of nostalgia, and a bit of a cop out. Due to the way the songs are set-up, as well as the general style of the band, a lot of the songs sound very similar. Small is barely intelligible as a vocalist in his portrayal as Explosion, which means songs blend, and lyrics are basically meaningless, since they can’t be understood anyways.

The songs are short, brutal, and have some extremely ridiculous portions of them, whether in song title, lyric, or in the incredibly complex melodies. Songs such as the first single, “I Ejaculate Fire” fit the bill on all three counts, and is also one of the best songs on the album. Other notable tracks, such as “Impeach God”, “The Hammer” and “Crush The Industry” serve as great reminders of the brutality of Dethklok.

Summary: Dethklok has returned to make everything metal, and they’ve done just that. The Dethalbum III has made everything blacker than the blackest black, times infinity, and delivered once again on a terrific metal record that while is similar to the offerings they’ve given before, it’s not always wise to mess with a good thing. Heavy and full of extreme and outlandish humor and violence, Dethklok has come back with a vengeance, reminding fans why everyone loves the show, the music, and the band in both their live and digital forms.

The Good: Metal To A Major Degree, Great Production And Music

The Bad: Riffs Occasionally Sound Recycled

The Ugly: William Murderface (Enough Said)

Score: 9.0

Russ Pirozek, known as "Noobcrawler" to some, is a gamer and comic book fan who sometimes gets around to writing for DigitalNoob.com. He's also awesome. If someone looked up "awesome" in the dictionary, his picture wouldn't be there, but that's because he's too busy being awesome to pose for a photo.